Torah textbooks

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  • Manga Midrash
  • I Can Learn Torah -- series
  • The Shabbat Book: A Weekly Guide for the Whole Family
  • Torah Toons: for middle schoolers, a great resource book for teachers (great commentaries, questions), the older version is better and cleaner to use
  • A Child's Garden of Torah by Joel Lurie Grishaver: (Torah Aura Productions)
    • ages 3-6 +
    • makes Torah come alive
    • children should be able to envision themselves in the story
  • A Child's Bible: lessons form the Torah
    • divided by story, not by parsha
    • after each story: what does it mean? what does it teach?
    • activities, thinking questions
    • a good introduction, but not actual Torah study, skips some parts of the Bible
    • moralistic didactic: here's the lesson to take from this story
  • My Weekly Sidrah
  • Sedra Scenes
  • Make a Midrash out of Me
  • Ve'Zot HaTorah: great resource for teachers
  • The Weekly Daf: an Orthodox production for grades 2 - 5?

  • Sefer Aggadah, Book of Legends

Commentaries
  • JPS Edition
  • Etz Hayim – Rabbinic Assembly/USCJ
  • The Torah: A Modern Commentary (Plaut) – URJ/UAHC Press
  • The Jewish Study Bible
  • Studies in Bereisheet – Nehama Leibowitz (will need a Chumash to accompany)
  • The Five Books of Moses – Everett Fox, Translator (mostly translation with minimal commentary)

Resources for Further Reading:
  • Holtz, Barry, Textual Knowledge: Teaching the Bible in Theory and in Practice
  • Friedman, Richard Elliot, Who Wrote the Bible (Biblical Criticism)
  • Brettler, Marc, How to Read the Bible
  • Kugel, James, How to Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now
  • Alter, Robert, The Art of Biblical Narrative (Bible as Narrative)
  • Green, Arthur (Trans.), Sefat Emet: The Language of Truth (Chasidic/Spiritual)
  • Zornberg, Aviva, Genesis: The Beginning of Desire (Literary)
  • Cohen, Norman, Self, Struggle and Change (Personal)
  • Dockser Marcus, Amy, The View from Nebo (Historical)

Web Resources:

Text Resources
  • Linear Rashi (5 volume set)
  • Nehama Leibowitz: Studies in…Genesis, Exodus (a 6 or 7 volume set)
  • Sefer HaAgada: The Book of Legends (Braude Tanslation)
  • Sefat Emet: The Language of Truth (Art Green translation) – Hasidic
  • The Five Books of Miriam by Ellen Frankl
  • The Bible As It Was – James Kugel (great for contextual orientation)
  • Mikra’ot G’dolot – English version, contains many commentators and Onkelos (the Greek translation)
  • Torah Gems (3 volume set) – Hasidic
  • The Tur – 4 volume set
  • In the Image of God – Judith Antonelli



Bible Answers